Plan B

Rapper, song writer, film director and now charity founder, Plan B is this month supporting the launch of The Big Music Project. The founder of Each One Teach One, Plan B is joining forces with the lottery funded Big Music Project to give more opportunities in the music business to young people across the UK.

Facing his demons has meant an evolution in not only his party reputation but also in his music. With his next album on the way, backing of a label state side and his latest single 'Kids Again' released this week, Example speaks honestly and frankly about life as it is right now.

The aims of the BIG Music Project are to deliver a large scale, year long, media-led youth engagement campaign, reaching over 4,500,000 young people aged 14-24 across the UK, and focused on the opportunities created for them by their passion for and interest in music.

Recently I came across The B Team, which is hoping to move world-wide business in a positive direction. The B Team describes itself as a "not-for-profit initiative that has been formed by a group of global business leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit."

As Brits we can be pretty subdued when it comes to concerts. Standing back swaying slightly and giving an in time nod when it comes to the tracks we love. Letting go isn't always our thing. Do we even know what that is?

The continued dismal performance of the UK economy is entirely consistent with the predictions of those of us who have argued consistently for the last two years that premature fiscal consolidation would be severely contractionary in the short term, and risked doing significant long-term economic and social damage.

IMF economists have finally acknowledged what politicians have long denied. They have shown that austerity policies implemented by politicians and demanded by financial markets are severely damaging to what economists define as 'growth'. Ultimately, argues the IMF, these policies are self-defeating. As most thinking people now recognise, rather than repairing the broken and bankrupt economies of the world, austerity is making matters worse.

With the iTunes festival taking over Camden's Roundhouse, artists from all over the world have been bought together to take to the stage in the Capital. As one of the most talented and humble guys in the music industry, Labrinth has had an extraordinary year. With his album 'Electronic Earth' making steady waves, he has bounced his way across the main stages of the biggest festivals this summer.

On the face of it this has been a pretty tepid, even dull, Lib Dem conference. No rows, cock-ups, or defeats. But it's probably been the most important party gathering since the special conference in May 2010 when the party dipped its hand in blood to sign the Coalition Agreement.

Today, 10 September, Nesta is publishing a report which argues that the debate over growth is missing a vital point. Fixing the economy in the short term is only half the battle. If we want the UK to return to growth, we need to look at what has gone wrong with the main driver of growth: our capacity to innovate.